Mosquitos

[Dave2002]

This interesting article gives some possible explanations as to why some people are more prone to mosquito bites than others - https://getpocket.com/explore/item/w...re-than-others

Not sure it'll help anyone though. Also it may be specific to particular insects - mosquitos - and not to others - for example midges - which are not mosquitos.

[Pabmusic]

I have to live with mosquitoes, being in the tropics. Did you know that the ones that go after your blood are the females? And that each female mates only once, storing all the sperm for future use? The males are (almost) never seen - presumably they're hiding away feeling inadequate.

They love dairy products, too, so Northern Europeans - who smell of sour milk (or so my wife says) are especially vulnerable. I did know about the blood type - they love type O (I'm O-).

Also - the itchy lumps are caused by your own immune system. Doesn't really make it any better...

[Bryn]

I have to live with mosquitoes, being in the tropics. Did you know that the ones that go after your blood are the females? And that each female mates only once, storing all the sperm for future use? The males are (almost) never seen - presumably they're hiding away feeling inadequate.

They love dairy products, too, so Northern Europeans - who smell of sour milk (or so my wife says) are especially vulnerable. I did know about the blood type - they love type O (I'm O-).

Also - the itchy lumps are caused by your own immune system. Doesn't really make it any better...

The males will sometimes land on humans to partake of sweat but not blood.

[Pabmusic]

The males will sometimes land on humans to partake of sweat but not blood.

Well I have enough of that. :)

[cloughie]

Also - the itchy lumps are caused by your own immune system.

Histamines - hence the use of antihistamines to quell them!

[Pabmusic]

Histamines - hence the use of antihistamines to quell them!

[Constantbee]

A serious problem in many parts of the world where they help to spread zoonotic diseases like Zika virus, dengue fever and malaria. In our conditions they’re more of an annoyance. Scottish midges are just as bad.

Bug jackets gave us good protection on a couple of Scottish Munro walks. These are light, stuffable mesh jackets that are easy to pack and put on Walkers typically reach the peaty, boggy sections of the walk at the bottom of the hill on the descent in the early evening. Perfect breeding conditions for midges and peak activity time. Time to put the bug jacket on.

Bug caps are a shorter version. They’ve got a finer mesh that offers better vision and just cover your head and face. Anglers use them in situations where you need to be able to spot the fly life but not get bothered by it.

Jungle formula DEET used to be an effective repellent but there’s been a lot of discussion about how safe DEET is. I’ve found that anything based on Citronella is pretty good for individual use (not for cats, though). Also effective is a wonderful Italian gadget, thankfully still available, called a zampirone. It’s a slow burning coil set on a small portable stand, ideal for use outdoors. You light one end, it burns for ages and the vapour repels the mosquitoes. Active ingredient pyrethrum, but now available in citronella too. First found out about the ‘zampirone’ from the excellent 1980’s BBC Buongiorno Italia language course. It’s a great word ‘uno zampirone’ …

[Cockney Sparrow]

A serious problem in many parts of the world where they help to spread zoonotic diseases like Zika virus, dengue fever and malaria. In our conditions they’re more of an annoyance. Scottish midges are just as bad.

Bug jackets gave us good protection on a couple of Scottish Munro walks. These are light, stuffable mesh jackets that are easy to pack and put on Walkers typically reach the peaty, boggy sections of the walk at the bottom of the hill on the descent in the early evening. Perfect breeding conditions for midges and peak activity time. Time to put the bug jacket on.

Bug caps are a shorter version. They’ve got a finer mesh that offers better vision and just cover your head and face. Anglers use them in situations where you need to be able to spot the fly life but not get bothered by it.

Jungle formula DEET used to be an effective repellent but there’s been a lot of discussion about how safe DEET is. I’ve found that anything based on Citronella is pretty good for individual use (not for cats, though). Also effective is a wonderful Italian gadget, thankfully still available, called a zampirone. It’s a slow burning coil set on a small portable stand, ideal for use outdoors. You light one end, it burns for ages and the vapour repels the mosquitoes. Active ingredient pyrethrum, but now available in citronella too. First found out about the ‘zampirone’ from the excellent 1980’s BBC Buongiorno Italia language course. It’s a great word ‘uno zampirone’ …

Thanks for that. I'll hand some Zampirone to my offspring - a magnet for Mosquitos. We went to a science research station open day where you could put your hand against a mesh to see to what extent Mosquitos were attracted and they all immediately went for said daughter - quite graphic. I've bought her Avon cosmetics "Skin so soft" which was reputedly dished out to ? Madonna when filmed in the Highlands but I've had no conclusive feedback on Mosquitos.

[Pulcinella]

Thanks for that. I'll hand some Zampirone to my offspring - a magnet for Mosquitos. We went to a science research station open day where you could put your hand against a mesh to see to what extent Mosquitos were attracted and they all immediately went for said daughter - quite graphic. I've bought her Avon cosmetics "Skin so soft" which was reputedly dished out to ? Madonna when filmed in the Highlands but I've had no conclusive feedback on Mosquitos.

Ignore the errant apostrophe in the description, but note that you are advised to keep out of reach of children!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Coghlans-C8686-Mosquito-Coils-Green/dp/B001AO1QXK/ref=sr_1_5?adgrpid=52711617003&dchild=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7N_D_KDP6wIVBKp3Ch2arAx6EAAYASAAEgJQ4PD_BwE&hvadid=259050504639&hvdev=t&hvlocphy=1007266&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=8998562265695727094&hvtargid=kwd-298441925939&hydadcr=28148_1821043&keywords=mosquito+coil&qid=1599214180&sr=8-5&tag=googhydr-21

[johncorrigan]

Like the mosquito, it's the female of the Scottish Midgie that does the biting too. Some people swear that they are kept at bay by eating garlic, and others that bog myrtle is ideal for keeping them away. In the days when I was a smoker you could go through a power of fags trying to get shot of the wee blighters. In Poolewe in Wester Ross a good number of years back, we had our heads stuck in the smoke of the fire to keep them away - they just eat your arms instead.

One thing that has happened is that they have adapted over the years. Their breeding year seems to have lengthened. When I was younger we expected them from August to October; now they can give you a good sook as early as June. It was also felt that the wind kept them down, but a couple of years ago I was up in one of the Glens on a really windy day and the midgies were up, and biting ...there was also a sense at one time that they weren't active above 1500 feet, but hill-walkers I know report that they are active much higher these days. I assume because there are more people on the hills. No escape from them...they're still preferable to a cleg bite, mind you.

[Dave2002]

Jungle formula DEET used to be an effective repellent but there’s been a lot of discussion about how safe DEET is. I’ve found that anything based on Citronella is pretty good for individual use.

DEET may be good, but we took some jungle formula on a holiday to somewhere where we were concerned about mosquitos and malaria. It complete ruined some bag liners which we had bought to keep our clothes together. I think it must contain a pretty strong solvent. Better than being bitten and contracting a disease, but something to be aware of. I don't know what kinds of container or bags are resistant to DEET as a solvent.

Citronella candles are quite good for use in the UK - not perfect, but the hazards are more of an irritation than a real danger

It is, however, possible to get massive and painful swellings even from very small bugs, as I found on one of our journeys back from Sweden. I suspect something midge size decided to take a nibble during one of our lunch stops.

[Pulcinella]

No-see-ums seemed particularly attracted to me on the only holiday I have had in the Bahamas.

https://www.mosquitomagnet.com/articles/no-see-ums-facts

[Serial_Apologist]

I have to live with mosquitoes, being in the tropics. Did you know that the ones that go after your blood are the females? And that each female mates only once, storing all the sperm for future use? The males are (almost) never seen - presumably they're hiding away feeling inadequate.

They love dairy products, too, so Northern Europeans - who smell of sour milk (or so my wife says) are especially vulnerable. I did know about the blood type - they love type O (I'm O-).

Also - the itchy lumps are caused by your own immune system. Doesn't really make it any better...

The fact that as a teenager I was bitten mercilessly by mosquitoes while on a school summer exchange with a French family in Martigues, near Marseilles in the south of France, whereas my highly amused French hosts were left alone, might seem to confirm the above.

When my parents and I moved to a house situated near a stagnant pond, back in the mid-1950s, we were plagued by mosquitoes. My father did some research and found that BP, the company he worked for, made a detergent-type product, whiose name I now forget, which could end the local mosquito population by destroying the surface tension of the pond, thereby killing the nymphs which depended on it to breathe: they would sink to the bottom. This proved immediately effective - we were no longer plagued by mosquitoes - but my guessing is that such a product would no longer be judged ecologically sound, and in any case is probably illegal now.

By the way, shouldn't the thread heading be spelt mosquitoes?

[Pulcinella]

...

By the way, shouldn't the thread heading be spelt mosquitoes?

Concise Oxford gives only mosquitoes, but Chambers, Collins, and Merriam-Webster all give both, with no suggestion of UK/US usage, which I thought might be the case.

[Serial_Apologist]

Concise Oxford gives only mosquitoes, but Chambers, Collins, and Merriam-Webster all give both, with no suggestion of UK/US usage, which I thought might be the case.

Hmmm...